Nonstop flight route between Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort St. John Airport (YXJ), Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,178 miles (or 6,724 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Fort St. John Airport and Lajes Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Fort St. John Airport and Lajes Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Fort St. John Airport (YXJ):

• Fort St. John Airport (YXJ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Fort St. John Airport (YXJ) is East London Airport (ELS), which is located 10,246 miles (16,489 kilometers) away in East London, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Fort St. John Airport (YXJ) is Dawson Creek Airport (YDQ), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) SSE of YXJ.
• In addition to being known as "Fort St. John Airport", another name for YXJ is "North Peace Airport".

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• Lajes supported the large airlift during the Gulf War.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• Lajes Field was one of the two stopover and refueling bases for the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944.
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• The civilian terminal also plays an important role in support of passenger and cargo airliners, executive, corporate and private jets flying to the island or beyond as the central location in the Azores group of islands makes it an ideal spot for refuelling or stopover.
• In August 2006, Portuguese news agencies reported that both governments were in discussions for a new agreement that could allow the use of Lajes for the training of a permanent F-22 Raptor squadron.
• In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force EICAP was transferred to Lajes, operating Douglas C-47, Douglas C-54 and later CASA C-212 Aviocar.
• The base also supports other NATO and non-NATO armed forces assets crossing the Atlantic for transport, VIP, exercise, relief or humanitarian duties.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air Base at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.